Researching the Educational Benefits of Diversity. Research Report No. 2005-4

Shaw, Emily J.

College Board

There are many different ways to research the educational benefits of diversity. Most of the findings from the research in this field suggest that experiences with diversity in higher education result in significant benefits on learning and democracy outcomes. This paper offers several examples of previous studies, as well as recommendations and considerations for institutions interested in designing and carrying out their own research studies on the educational benefits of diversity. Appended are: (1) Explanation of Acronyms; (2) Sample Items from the Diversity Assessment Questionnaire (DAQ); (3) Diversity Experiences; (4) Openness to Diversity/Challenge Scale Items; (5) Independent Variables Investigated by Pascarella, Edison, Nora, Hagedorn, and Terenzini (1996); (6) Modern Racism Scale (MRS); (7) List and Description of Measures Used in Gurin, Nagda, and Lopez (2004); and (8) Interactional Diversity Items from the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ).